The Scranton School District has 19 days to erase a nearly $19 million budget deficit. With a balanced budget due by the end of the year, the district could announce program cuts and layoffs by the end of the week.
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A 22-year-old Scranton man whom police charged with setting fire to his downtown apartment and driving more than 100 people from their homes Sunday admitted to investigators he did it because he wanted to move
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WILKES-BARRE — A woman who called 911 to report she had been abducted and sexually assaulted was arrested early Monday after kicking a police officer and offering him a bribe in exchange for her release, according to police.
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Editor: On Nov. 10, I celebrated the Marine Corps birthday by trading combat stories with fellow Marines at the Marine Corps League on East Mountain.

Afterward, on my way home, I decided to say hello to someone who is 95 and was a Navy corpsman during World War II. His name is Tony Julian. Others told me that he was wounded on Iwo Jima and that he had survived three other Pacific island assaults, including Saipan. I felt that there are few opportunities left to meet genuine heroes of Iwo Jima. I approached his table and knelt on one knee so as to be at eye level, then tapped him on the shoulder, looked him in the eyes, shook his hand and introduced myself. His response was, “Oh, you are the one that writes all the letters to The Times.”

I was astonished at his crystal clear memory. He reads The Times-Tribune editorial page daily. I told him that it was an immense honor for me to shake his hand and to speak with him. He related some vivid details of his combat experiences, which took my breath away. I told him that I hold Navy corpsmen in the highest esteem for their incredible courage under gruesome circumstances. I mentioned that after I was wounded in Vietnam, the Navy corpsman who first came to my aid was killed two days later in the same battle. His name was Ralph Wheeler III, from Pittsburgh. Now, whenever I think of Ralph Wheeler, which is too often, I will also think of Tony Julian.

I concluded by asking him to keep reading The Times-Tribune editorial page as I would send a letter about our wonderful encounter.

Brother Tony, all Marines salute you on this birthday of the Marine Corps.

EUGENE OGOZALEK

SCRANTON

Memories stirred

Editor: I am a World War II veteran and a 71-year member of Koch-Conley American Legion Post 121 and was delighted to read the article and see the photo in the Nov. 12 Sunday Times about the name of legion posts and how they honor vets. I was also pleased because my father, Con Gallagher, was one of the World War I vets in the photo.

He was the original operator of “the biggest little store in town,” a popular grocery store in the Bulls Head section of Scranton, which I continued to operate after he retired in 1960.

When World War II ended, we vets were welcomed into the American Legion with open arms, and a great camaraderie came about among the vets of both wars.

Among others in the photo are Joseph Bonin, Roy Faulkner, Neil Lally, a 50-year Scranton Times employee; John Shaughnessy and John Rzoncki.

Our beautiful post home was the center of legion affairs, community and social affairs. For years, portraits of Louis Koch and Edward Conley were prominently displayed. In recent years, due to declining membership and not wanting to see the structure deteriorate, we turned it over to the University of Scranton. The university turned it over to Lackawanna County, which turned it over to Lackawanna College. I am pleased that the building is in good hands and it will always be a reminder to the community of the sacrifice made by veterans of all wars to keep the United States the great and free nation that it is.

GENE GALLAGHER

CLARKS SUMMIT

Duplicity rich

Editor: When Barack Obama was president, Republicans complained constantly about the deficit. The question was always, “How are we going to pay for it?”

But now we have a Republican president who wants a huge tax cut for the rich that will raise the deficit by trillions of dollars and no one on the Republican side talks about the deficit anymore. When it comes to the super-rich getting what they want the rules are different.

MARC PERKEL

GILROY, CALIFORNIA

No going forward

Editor: The Republicans’ self-inflicted health care fiasco is one of the great political failures in recent U.S. history.

During President Trump’s campaign, he said he would not touch Medicare or Medicaid. It turns out he was just another politician making promises he couldn’t keep.

Remember that GOP attempts toward reform failed and Republicans pretended more people would have health coverage, which was a lie. They got trapped into playing the opposition game, lost and now pay the price.

Republicans rely on the votes of middle-class and working-class voters, many of whom are beneficiaries of Obamacare and Medicaid.

Looming discussions over the debt ceiling and tax reform unfortunately are up in the air. Republicans could again find themselves in a paralyzing dispute on taxes. Trump’s presidency seems on the brink of collapse. It’s a farce. Even though Republicans have total control of the federal government, will they ever get anything done?

GOP decisions are unhinged and the party is stuck in reverse.

MARTY KROWIAK SR.

JESSUP

Speed of deception

Editor: The fastest thing in the universe is the speed of light. Nothing can go faster than 186,282 miles per second. That adds up to 5.88 trillion miles per year. At that speed, light from the nearest star, 25 trillion miles away, takes 4.25 years to reach us.

The national debt exceeds $20 trillion. That is $633,612 dollars per second, 3.4 times the speed of light. Interest charges alone on our national credit card amount to $215 billion this year.

The Republican tax plan would deepen the debt $1.7 trillion by lowering taxes for big corporations and the rich. The debt would go even deeper, except they will raise taxes on middle-class earners and revoke financial obligations for affordable health care.

How will this astronomical debt be repaid? Republicans plan to cut the Social Security and Medicare programs that we have paid into all our lives. This damage will be inflicted so the patrons who finance Republicans in Congress can collect more corporate dividends and pay less in taxes.

That means there will be less revenue to keep vital government services functioning.

It looks like the fastest thing in the universe may be the scam that gets taxpayers to vote Republican.

BRUCE JOFFE

PIEDMONT, CALIFORNIA

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